The eCommerce Revolution

Why eCommerce is growing, and how you can get in on this.

eCommerce is growing rapidly and if you have ever considered starting your own online business, now is the time! We consistently help people all over the world get set up with an eCommerce website in as little as a day. 

In 2017 eCommerce was responsible for around $2.3 trillion USD in revenue and is on target for $4.5 trillion USD in 2021 (according to a Statista report). In the United States, online sales represent 9% of retail sales and that number is expected to grow by almost 15% every year!


“Overall the web is pretty sloppy, but an online store can’t afford to be” - Paul Graham, Co-Founder of Y Combinator


Why is eCommerce flourishing now more than ever?

The answer is simple: eCommerce is predictable.

Everything online is trackable, from optimal times of day for posting your promotions, likes and shares, click-through rates, persona demographics, and even referral sources. These metrics are meticulously logged and analyzed by algorithms such as Google Analytics. And, not surprisingly, all of these metrics result in statistics you can use to grow an online business.

Let’s take a look at a compiled list of some of the most important eCommerce statistics you need to know to launch your eCommerce store.


2018: eCommerce Statistics to Watch if You Are Planning on Opening an Online Store

Our Earth’s population is 7.6 billion (growing every day). The internet has 4.1 billion users, which is also growing rapidly as new consumers age into the online universe. Studies show that children are using the internet younger now than ever, which means they are being exposed to the world wide web and leaving digital footprints that will eventually become the metrics we use to run online businesses. 
GENERAL ECOMMERCE STATISTICS

  • Small retailers may see up to 30%  higher mobile conversion rates compared to large retailers.

  • U.S. shoppers spent $5 billion online during 2017’s black Friday

  • On average, millennials now make 54% of purchases online (versus 49% of non-millennials).

  • 96% of Americans have made an online purchase in their life, 80% in the past month alone.

  • 74% of online shoppers rate product selection as important during the online search process.

  • 72% of shoppers return 10% or less of purchases.

  • Americans spend 64% of their shopping budget in-store, and 36% online.

  • 38% of people will leave a website if they find the layout unattractive.

  • 58% of the Top 1000 US online retailers send welcome emails.

  • eCommerce is growing 23% year-over-year, yet 46% of American small businesses do not have a website.

TECHNOLOGY ECOMMERCE STATISTICS

  • There are expected to be 600,000 commercial drones in use by 2018, and almost half of Americans would be willing to receive deliveries by drone.

  • A 2015 survey showed customers spending almost 60% of their online shopping time on their mobile devices. That translated to only 15% of purchases made on mobile.

  • Mobile commerce hit $700 billion in revenue in 2017, which is more than 300% growth over the past four years.

  • By 2019, B2B firms will spend more on eCommerce technology than online retailers do.

  • Amazon reports that Echo sales increased by 700% in 2017 over 2016,and competing devices proliferated.

  • Mobile shopping hit $2 billion on Cyber Monday 2017.

  • 40% of millennials have used voice search before making a purchase online, according to studies. 20% of Google searches on mobile are voice.

  • A ReadyCloud report finds that 44% of retail internet minutes were spent using a smartphone device, while 11% were spent using a tablet, as compared to 45% spent using a desktop.

  • According to Nielson, 50% of redeemed mobile coupons are captured directly from a retailer’s site by the consumer.

  • 69% of B2B businesses say they expect to stop printing catalogs within five years.

SHOPPING CART ECOMMERCE STATISTICS

  • Online shoppers abandon their shopping carts 68% of the time.

  • A PayPal study revealed that 43% of shoppers abandoned shopping carts because the shipping charges were too high.

  • From 2015 to 2017, the global average cart abandonment rate increased from 71.39% to 77.24%.

  • 23% of users will abandon their shopping cart if they have to create a new user account.

  • 54% of shoppers will purchase products left in shopping carts if those products are subsequently offered at a lower price.


MAIL ECOMMERCE STATISTICS

  • Gmail is the most popular email platform, commanding 46.77% of the market share.

  • 72% of people prefer email as the mode of business communication.

  • Millennials prefer communication with businesses to be over email as well. 67.6% of teens and 73.1% of those aged 19 to 34 prefer email over direct mail, SMS and app notifications.

  • 91% of Americans want to receive promotional emails.

  • At 4.15 on a scale of 1 to 7, customers rated discounts in email as the biggest influence on their purchase decisions.

  • 75% of Gmail users access their emails on mobile devices.

  • Percentage off discounts (35%) and free shipping (20%) are the offers email subscribers want the most.

  • 54% of emails are opened on mobile. This makes it the most popular platform, beating out desktop (16%) and webmail (30%).

  • Mobile device usage increased from 59% to 67% for consumers of eCommerce email in 2017.

  • Email marketing spending in the United States would grow from 2.07 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 to 3.07 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

SOCIAL MEDIA ECOMMERCE STATISTICS

  • 30% of online shoppers say they would be likely to make a purchase from a social media network like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat.

  • 84% Of online shoppers in the United States review at least one social media site before making a purchase.

  • The average order value for customers referred from Facebook is $55.

  • Posts with photos get 53% more Likes, 104% more comments, and 84% higher click-through rates.

  • The average order value for customers referred from Twitter is $46.29.

  • 75% of Instagram users have taken an action, such as visiting a website, after looking at an Instagram advertising post.

  • There are over 500,000 businesses who make use of Instagram as an advertising platform.

  • The average order value for customers referred from Instagram is $65.00.

  • The average cost per click for eCommerce stores advertising on Instagram is $1.03.

  • The average order value for customers referred from YouTube is $37.63.

Are you ready?

As an eCommerce store owner, it’s time to start getting excited for what comes next. With online shopping taking over the retail market, there has never been a better time to get started selling online. 

If reading these statistics helped you realize you’re ready to build (or improve) your eCommerce business, let us help you put an eCommerce strategy in place. As seasoned veterans of the eCommerce industry, we’re here to help! Get Started now.